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Friday, February 13, 2015

Snow Emergency Friday the 13, 2015

DATE: February 13th, 2015

TIME: 8:00 PM

SUBJECT: Winter Storm Recovery Operationsand Weekend Snowstorm

Updated Forecast Summary from the National Weather Service

The National Weather Service (NWS) provided the following update related to the approaching winter storm:

This weekend storm will bring light to moderate snow will begin Saturday afternoon and increase in intensity overnight, bring up to 14 inches in eastern MA, and up to 8 inches in central MA, and up to 6 inches western MA. Snow is expected to taper in western and central Massachusetts bySunday afternoon, and in eastern Massachusetts by Sunday evening. This storm will bring strong winds, with gusts up to 50 mph inland, up to 60 mph gusts along the eastern coast, southern Bristol and Plymouth counties, and the upper Cape and up to 70 mph along the and the Outer Cape and Nantucket. Minor to moderate coastal flooding and significant beach erosion is expected for the Sunday morning high tide (~7:30 a.m.) along the northeastern shoreline from Salisbury to Cape Ann. Minor and possibly pockets of moderate coastal flooding are expected on the South Shore and Cape Cod Bay. Extremely cold temperatures will follow this storm, with lows reaching below zero in eastern MA and double digits below zero in western MA, and wind chills reaching 25 below zero.

·Snowfall: 4” to 6” inches expected in Western portion of the state and 8” to 14” for Central, Eastern and Southeast-coastal areas. Blizzards conditions expected in East/Southeastern- coastal areas.·Snowfall Timing:Saturday afternoon through Sundayevening.·Winds:Sunday into Sunday night, high confidence for northerly winds of 40-50 mph across the interior of the state and 60+ mph for Cape and Islands.Strongest winds expected around midday Sunday.·Temperature: Sunday night into Tuesday expect extremely cold temperatures across the state with possible wind chills of 25 below or lower in some portions of the state.·Coastal Flooding: During the Sunday morning high tide there is high confidence for minor to pockets of moderate coastal flooding and beach erosion. Coastal flooding to mainly occur on north-facing beaches from Cape Ann to Cape Cod Bay. Coastal flooding highlights include:

The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) will remain at Level 2 (Partial Activation) with MEMA staff and state agencies including MassDOT, DCR, DEP, MANG, and MSP. The SEOC will continue to provide situational awareness and coordinate assistance to ongoing local and regional snow removal and cleanup efforts.The MEMA Regional EOC’s in Agawam, Tewksbury and Bridgewater have secured for the night and will reopen Tuesday morning.

The SEOC will activate to Level 3 (Full Activation) at 7:00 p.m. Saturday in support of storm response withthe following ESFs:

ESF 1- MassDOT

ESF 3- DCR, DPS

ESF 4- DFS

ESF 6- ARC

ESF 8- DPH

ESF 9- MEP, USCG

ESF 12- DPU, National Grid, NSTAR

ESF 13- MSP

ESF 16- MANG

Coastal Flooding Response AssetsTo ensure quick response to any situation in which individuals need to be evacuated out of flooded areas, the Massachusetts National Guard will stage personnel and high water vehicles prior to Sunday morning’s high tide in the following locations:

·Gloucester·Ipswich·Newburyport·Hull·Scituate·Sandwich

Mutual Aid via the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC)

Pursuant to a request from MEMA through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, the states of Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont have agreed to send a total of 28 front end loaders, 76 dump trucks, 14 backhoes, and 36 skid-steer loaders, together with operators and maintenance personnel, to support ongoing snow removal operations.

MEMA secured an agreement with New York and deployed 2 snow melters from the City of New York to Boston via EMAC.

Pennsylvania is sending 10 personnel to support SEOC operations.

MEMA has stood up a State Staging Area (SSA) on the MassPort owned portion of Hanscom Air Force Base, with overflow capacity at Middlesex Community College in Bedford, to receive and support all out-of-state equipment and personnel. The SSA will operate on a 24/7 basis. Out-of-state resources began arriving at the SSA Tuesday and will continue to arrive through today. Heavy equipment and personnel that arrivedyesterday from Pennsylvania and Vermont will deploy today to cities and towns to assist in snow removal operations. Crews and equipment that arrive at the SSA today from Maine and Pennsylvania will deploytomorrow to cities and towns.

Resources that arrived in Worcester Tuesday and are staged/working in Worcester:

MA National Guard DeploymentsMA National Guard (MANG) teams continue to be deployed throughout the Commonwealth to support local public safety and public works personnel with critical public and life safety issues and enhancing critical services. These teams have been instructed to work with local officials to define specific missions. Examples of permissible missions include: digging out fire hydrants, opening storm drains and catch basins to prevent flooding, clearing snow from HVAC vents at public facilities and critical infrastructure, and ensuring access to critical infrastructure such as police and fire stations, pumping stations, and public facilities that provide necessary health and social services. While cities and towns may have other snow removal needs, it is important that MANG teams first address these types of public and life safety missions across the Commonwealth before taking on secondary missions. Once these teams complete critical missions in a community, they will move on to other communities. MEMA and the MANG ask that communities that receive these teams work with them, and the soldiers, to assign missions that meet the specific criteria.

MassDOT / MBTA Update

Due to the impending blizzard conditions, all MBTA services will be suspended Sunday, February 15th. There will be no Subway, Trolley, Commuter Rail, Bus, or Ferry service the entire day. The MBTA will not be offering 'Late Night" bus or subway services Saturday night/Sunday morning (February 14-15). The last subway trains will depart downtown Boston no later than 12:50 a.m.

General Information

The State EOC remains partially activated and the ESF1 desk continues to be staffed to support this event.

MBTA service continues to operate on a limited schedule today; delays are possible.

ESF1 has been assigned a high volume of mission requests; working with ESF1 partners to fulfill where possible. However, incoming weather and personnel/equipment exhaustion is a limiting factor. MEMA is bringing in resources from out-of-state via EMAC to support some of these requests.ESF1 continues to evaluate ability to fulfill all outstanding assigned mission tasks.

Road Conditions

District

Town/City

Road

Specific Location

Status

CLOSED / LANE RESTRICTIONS

3

Worcester

I-190 Both Dir.

@Exit 1

@1455 Road closed due to damage until at least 1800.

Transit

General Conditions and Impacts

Due to weather-related Orange Line delays, Haverhill Line passengers are strongly encouraged to transfer to the Orange Line at North Station, not Malden Center.

The Commuter Rail will continue to operate on published weekday schedules on Friday, February 13. Some trains may be cancelled due to weather-related issues.

See line specific details below.

Service Conditions

Mode/Line

Status

MBTA

▬ Blue Line

The Blue Line will operate today, but with fewer cars and less frequent service.

▬ Orange Line

The Orange Line will resume regular weekday service today, Friday, February 13. Customers should continue to anticipate weather-related delays in service.

▬ Red Line

Limited Red Line service will be available between Alewife and Ashmont Stations. Red Line trains will also resume on the Braintree branch to North Quincy Station with shuttle bus replacement of Red Line trains between North Quincy and Braintree Stations through Sunday, February 15. This means that Braintree branch subway service between North Quincy and Braintree Stations is replaced with shuttle buses through the end of service on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Customers are strongly encouraged to use Commuter Rail service that will stop at Braintree and Quincy Center.

Buses will replace service on the Mattapan Trolley Line from start to end of service on Friday, February 13.

▬ Green Line

The Green Line will operate today, but with fewer cars and less frequent service.

▬ Silver Line

Operating; delays possible due to road conditions.

▬ Bus

All bus routes will operate a regular weekday schedule on Friday, February 13. Many bus routes will experience weather related delays and may operate on snow route.

▬Commuter Rail

The Commuter Rail will operate on published weekday schedules beginning at the start of service on Friday, February 13, 2015 with the exception of the following cancelled trips:

Providence Line 800

Franklin Line 702

Fairmount Line: 734/744

Stoughton Line: 901/902

Worcester Express: 582

Anderson/Woburn Line 351/352 & 355/356 & 357/358

Reading Line 259/260 & 263/264

Beverly 051/052 & 053/054

▬Commuter Boat

Due to icing conditions at Hingham Shipyard, all Hingham vessel departures and arrivals on Friday, February 13, will operate between Hingham and Rowes Wharf exclusively.

Hull Ferry service to Hull, Logan Airport, and Long Wharf will operate as scheduled on Friday, February 13, but with no connections in Hingham. Connections to Hingham from Long Wharf, Logan Airport, and Hull are currently suspended and will resume when icing conditions improve.

Charlestown Ferry service will operate on a weekday schedule on Friday, February 13.

▬ The RIDE

Operating; however delays and cancellations are likely; customers should check with the operator.

REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITIES

All Other

No impacts reported

OTHER SERVICES

Concord Coach

No impacts reported

Dartmouth Coach

No impacts reported

Boston Express Bus

Boston Express Bus is extending the suspension of “Commuter Loop” stops through next Friday, February 20, 2015. Commuter loop trips will go directly to South Station.

Peter Pan Bus

No impacts reported

Plymouth & Brockton

No impacts reported

Amtrak

No impacts reported

Logan Express

No impacts reported

Steamship Authority

No impacts reported

Department of Conservation and Recreation UpdateDRC reports:

·DCR will implement a parking ban on ALL DCR roads on Saturday, February 14, 2015, time to be determined. A parking ban remains in effect on Winthrop Shore Drive until further notice.

·The city of Revere and DCR have plans to close the Winthrop Parkway Flood Gate between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM Saturday, February 14, 2015.

·DCR MassParks Depots are critically low in salt. Each Depot will be able to get through the next day or two with current salt totals, but will be dangerously low beyond this weekend.

·DCR has cancelled winter camping at Scusset Beach State Reservation and Shawme Crowell State Forest until further notice. The only areas open for camping, by reservation, are the cabins at Camp Nihan, Savoy Mountain, and Mohawk Trail.

·Hewitts Cove in Hingham is experiencing major freezing issues causing concern regarding DCR boats and Boston Harbor Islands staff. Staff has been able to break the ice around their boats and reach the caretaker on Spectacle Island. The US Coast Guard has been breaking up the ice with one of their cutters, but with subfreezing temperatures predicted into next week, there may be more issues with freezing.

·All DCR Depots will be fully mobilized for snow and ice operations by 12:00 PM Saturday, February 14, 2015.

·The NE Mass Mosquito Control Project’s dump truck returned to Amesbury today and completed their mission.

Department of Environmental Protection Update

DEP reports:

The roof of the Manchester BTS Water Filtration Plant sustained damage due to the weight of the snow. Due to safety concerns, and the threat of structural collapse, a decision was made to temporarily close the plant. The plant covers the town’s entire water supply and therefore the town is currently without a town water filtration system. MassDEP is facilitating an engineer on scene to inspect the building condition, and is working with the town to try an emergency interconnect with Gloucester water supply. The town is also requesting help to obtain booster pumps to handle pressure differential.

DEP Guidance onSnow Disposal in Open Waterways

Due to the extraordinary weather experienced by the Commonwealth in the past several weeks, municipalities throughout the Commonwealth are facing significant challenges in their efforts to clear, remove and dispose of historic accumulations of snow. MassDEP recognizes that cities and towns may need to undertake emergency measures to ensure protection of public safety.

·Dispose of snow in open water with adequate flow and mixing to prevent ice dams from forming.·Do not dispose of snow in saltmarshes, vegetated wetlands, certified vernal pools, shellfish beds, mudflats, drinking water reservoirs and their tributaries, Zone IIs or IWPAs of public water supply wells, Outstanding Resource Waters, or Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.·Do not dispose of snow where trucks may cause shoreline damage or erosion.·Consult with the municipal Conservation Commission to ensure that snow disposal in open water complies with local ordinances and bylaws.

Communities that intend to dispose of snow in open water as outlined above must provide advance notification to DEP by calling (888) 304-1133. Communities must also consult with their Conservation Commission prior to disposing of snow in open water.

·Utilize Massachusetts Alerts to receive emergency notifications and information from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service. Massachusetts Alerts is a free app that is available for Android and iPhones. To learn more about Massachusetts Alerts, and for information on how to download the free app onto your smartphone, visit: www.mass.gov/mema/mobileapp.

·Utilize MEMA’s real-time power outage viewer to stay informed about current power outages in your community and region, and across the state, including information from utility companies about restoration times: http://mema.mapsonline.net/public.html